Update Florida speedy trial limits

Changes for serious crimes are needed to stop the unintended release of suspects

April 3, 2010

Pedro Lebron and Wickney Utile were arrested on murder charges in separate cases in Orange County in 2004. The two men would end up with something else in common: They were released within weeks of each other in 2005, the charges against them dismissed, after their cases failed to go to trial within state time limits. Prosecutors blamed a mix-up in one case, and disappearing witnesses in the other.

Citing such cases, state Rep. Eric Eisnaugle of Orlando has proposed tweaking the time limits. His proposal deserves approval in the Legislature.

Both the Florida and U.S. constitutions guarantee a criminal defendant the right to a speedy trial. That right stems from the sound reasoning that authorities should not be able to hold suspects indefinitely without giving them their day in court.

Under current rules in Florida set by the state Supreme Court, criminal defendants can be released and the charges against them dropped if they are not tried within 175 days from their arrest. But the limit makes no distinction between petty and serious crimes. The same deadline applies to defendants facing charges for misdemeanors or murders.

It's a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn't acknowledge the additional time and resources that may be needed to bring more serious cases to trial. It also doesn't account for the complexity that has become common in murder and rape cases, including the use of DNA testing and other scientific research.

And with Florida courts laboring under budget cuts and heavier caseloads, a tight time frame raises the risk that accused murderers or rapists will walk.

Mr. Eisnaugle's bill would create a range of time limits, depending on the seriousness of the charges. The deadline for defendants charged with misdemeanors would be just 90 days, a little over half the current limit. For most felonies, the limit would be 180 days, just five more days than now.

But for a first-degree felony punishable by life in prison, the limit would be 275 days. And in cases punishable by death, the limit would be a year.

Also under the bill, the charges against a defendant not brought to trial within time limits wouldn't necessarily be permanently dismissed. A court would have to conclude that the delay was excessive and harmed the defendant's case.

A public defender who testified against Mr. Eisnaugle's bill in Tallahassee said it would take away the motivation for prosecutors to move cases forward. That's a stretch, considering the bill doesn't eliminate time limits, just lengthens them for serious crimes.

Other critics called the bill a solution in search of a problem. But a legislative analysis of the bill cited six cases of murder or attempted murder in Florida dismissed for violating the current limits. It found a total of 81 state court opinions over the past 25 years dismissing criminal cases for speedy-trial violations. And it pointed out that many more cases were probably dropped by prosecutors who ran up against the limits.

Some opponents of the bill see it as a harbinger of a broader effort by the Legislature to strip authority from the state's highest court. Such an effort would be unwelcome; it could disrupt the balance of powers in Florida. A change in one area of the law should not clear the way for an wider power grab.

Opinions in the state House on Mr. Eisnaugle's proposal have split along party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. Too bad. Improving Florida's courts ought to be a bipartisan project.